Rail joint



Aug. 29, 1933. R, FARIES RAIL JOINT Filed March 19, 1952 R05 ezifa BY IATTORN I a? m M4 Patented Aug, 2 9, 179,331 l UNITED STATES Thisinvention relates to track rail joints wherein the contiguous endsfofadjoining rail sections are overlapped, at opposite sides, by-

joint-bars which are clamped against v I the'rail'sections by transversesecuring bolts.

ment upon the rail joint disclosed in a previous application Serial No.592,264, filed by me on' ofthebars and the top faces of the base flangesof said. rail sections. Although such wear is occasioned mostly by upand down flexure of the juncture under the weight of passing trains, itis in part due to lateral flexure of thejoint con' currently induced byside thrust of the wheel flanges of the cars. Y 1 My present inventionhas for its aim to retain all the advantages inherent to my previous improvement and in addition to minimize wear on the rail sections andjoint bars due to the latter of the above indicated conditions. Ashereinafter fully explained, I attain this desideratum through provisionof joint bars characterized by longitudinal ribs respectively above andbelow the level of securing bolts, adapted to bear against the verticalcenter webs of the adjoining rail sec tions at the regions of 'mergenceof the said webs with the rail heads and base flanges. H I

In the attached drawing, Fig. I is a view showing my improved track railjoint in side elevation. Figs. 11 and III are cross sectional viewstaken as indicated respectively by the arrows II II and III-III in Fig.I; and

Fig. IV showsthe inside elevation of one of my improved joint bars.

I uniformly overlap the line of separation or split 6 between thecontiguous ends of the adjoining rail sections 7, 8, and which are crosssectionally configured, as shown in Figs. II and III, to fit the hollowsat opposite sides of the rail. 'For the greater portion of their lengthsthe upper and lower edges 9 and 10 of the bars 5 respectively contactwith the sloping under faces 12 of the rail heads 13 and the sloping topsurfaces 14 of effectively reinforced after customary practice in theart.

lwedge projections 25a and'26a are yieldingly In order to reinforce thejoint against" lateral flexure, I form the joint bars 5 on theiriinner,

faces with longitudinal-ribs 16 and 17 above and below the apertures 18(Fig. I) for thesecuring I bolt/s19, 20 and 21, which ribs are adaptedto bear The present invention constitutes an'improvedirectly againstopposite sides of the central webs 220i the rail sections below andabove theregions of mergence of the latter re'spectively with the railheads 13 and the base flanges 15. Asa consequence of this construction,it will be seen that the juncture is rendered substantially rigidagainst lateral flexure' to better withstand side thrust induced by thewheel flanges of cars passingover the rails. For areason which will presently appear, the upper edges 9 of the joint bars are medially recessedas at 23-and the loweredges 1 0 upwardly recessed as at 24 forrelatively, short distances inwards from opposite ends. Accordingly atthese regions the joint bars are of less fishing height than the fishingheight of the rails.

The provisions made for automatically compensating for wear between theheads 13 of the center and end bolts20, 21. From Fig. III it will. benoted that theupper ends 25a of the shims 25 are'bent inwards andtapered for wedging action; between. the sloping under faces 12 of theheads 13 of the railsections '7 and-13, and the'counter sloped top edgesof the central recessions 23 in,

the joint bars; while the lower edges'of the said, .shims are curvedinward slightly for'fulcrum l bearing at 25b upon the outer faces of thejoint bars5.' f U H u As shown in Fig. II, the shims 26 are shaped to Iconform with the cross sectional profile of the V I joint bars. 5, withtheir lower portions extending around the flangesof the bars andterminating in tapered inward projections-26a for engaging- Q betweenthe upwardlyrecessed bottom edge portions 24 atthe ends of the jointbars 5 and the i I 'springiness of the shims 25, 26 and the restraintimposed upon them by the clamp bolts 20, 21, their urged inward andthereby automatically take up the wear due to up and down fiexure of;the joint. The bolts 19, intermediate the center and end bolts 20 and21, are directly effective upon'the joint'bars 5 to clamp'them firmly tothe rail sections '7, 8. r

From'the foregoing it will be seen that myin vention affords a trackrail joint in which the component parts are so organized astoeffectively resist and minimize wear, with'attainment of acorresponding; increase in the longevity of the joint and reduction inthe costs of track maintenance.

Having thus describedmy invention, I claim:

' 1. In a rail joint, apair of joint bars lapping the contiguous ends ofthe adjoining rail sections having their lower edges upwardly recessedadjacent. opposite "ends; transverse clamp bolts passing through theends of the: joint bars to secure the latter to the railsections; andspring shims interposed beneath the heads of they bolts,

said shims having inward wedge projectionsto engage between the baseflanges of therail sectionscand the upwardly recessed portions of thebottom edges of the joint bars.

'2. In a rail. joint, a pair of. joint bars lapping j the contiguousends of adjoining rail sections and fitting the hollows at oppositesides thereoffsaid bars being formed with vertically spaced longi- Vtudinal ribs to bear against opposite sides of the vertical center websof the rail sections-and having their upper and lower edges recessedrespectively at the center-and at opposite ends; transverse clamp boltspassing'through the joint bars 7 immediately to opposite sides of thesplit/in the rail and also adjacent their opposite ends; and springshims interposed beneath the heads of the several bolts, the shimsassociated with the int termediate pair of the boltshaving inward wedgeprojections to engage between the heads of the rail sections and'thecentrally recessed portionsof the topedgesof the joint bars and thoseassociated with the end bolts having inward vwedge projections engagingbetween the base flanges or" the rail sections and the recessed endportions of the bottom edges of said joint bars.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a track rail'joint bar crosssectionally configuredto fit the side hollows of track rails, said barbeing formed with vertically spaced longitudinal ribs ada'ptedto bearagainst'the vertical center webs of the rails, and having a portion ofits upperedge centrally recessed'and portions of its lower j edge atopposite ends thereof'upwardlyre'cessed.

4. In acrai]. joint, a pair of joint bars lapping the contiguous ends ofadjoining railsections andfitting thehollows at opposite sides thereof,

, said bars being *formed with longitudinal ribs to bear againstopposite sides ofthevertical center webs of the rail sections, and beingat certain regions of less fishing heig t than the fishing height of therails, and spring shims having wedge-shaped tongues interposed. betweenthe l its bars and railsat said regions, said shims. being r to thebars, whereby said distorted from-natural shape "incident drawingtogether of the spaces between the bars. and rails.

' ROBERTFARIES.

tongues are constantly urged across the fishing

